Wow! I am so honoured today to be nominated to participate in the Creative blog Hop! My good friend, Anne Granger, nominated me and I am so grateful! Thanks, Anne! If you haven"t visited Anne's blog, you should! She has tons of great ideas and I just LOVE her clean and beautiful style!!

So, I have to answer 4 questions about myself and then pass the honour on to 2 other talented people.

Here goes…

Question #1 ) What am I working on right now? 

Very good question! It's October! What am I NOT working on? LOL Oh my, I have so much on the go and I'm super excited about it all!! First up, I'm booking Christmas card classes like crazy as it's that time of year! I have several Stamp-a-Stack classes comong up as well as my weekly "Coffee and cards" class which I'm loving!! Check out this fun "Burst package" that I sent to many of my customers to entice them to have a workshop. It worked! I've booked several of these fun classes and I'm having a blast!!

 

 

Question #2) How does my work differ from others in my Genre?

That's a tough one… but Like to make cards that really reflect the person I am giving them to. For example, I absolutely LOVE Stampin Up! punches and all the things you can create with them! I wanted to make a Star Wars card for a very special little boy and when  couldn't find anything online to show me how to do it, I challenged myself to come up with the characters myself.

Here's my card…

 

You can follow how I made these with punches in this post. 

 

Question #3) Why do I create what I do?

Another tough question… but really, I just follow my heart! I am absolutely in LOVE with the new project Life products from Stampin up! As a busy Mom and running my business from my home, it's hard for me to stay caught up on memory keeping.

Apart from designing the layouts for my monthly club, I hardly find time to do my "own" memory keeping… until NOW!! I am so excited! Project Life is allowing me to document those wonderful memories in such an easy and efficient way. You will often catch me doing project life on my island or kitchen table while Amanda's doing her homework or I'm cooking supper! Because there's no "tools" or even adhesive involved, it's very easy to complete a page in a few minutes!

Here's another reason, I create what I do…to bring joy to others and put a smile on someone's face.I love creating handmade gifts from the heart. Like this vase of paper roses that I gave Amanda's 3rd grade teacher, using the Spiral flower die. It is definitely more fun to give than receive!

 

Question #4) How does my creative process work?

When I sit down to make a card, I often thumb through the Stampin up! catalogue to get ideas to get my MOJO going. :0 ) Sometimes, it's just the layout of the card or the colors they've put together that inspires me. 

Lately, I find myself using sketches as a springboard for my cards and pages. I love MOJO Monday's blog and I often use their card sketches. (They release a new one every Monday)

Here's an example of a recent card I made and it's corresponding sketch…

Here's the sketch..

 

Whew! I made it through the 4 questions about ME! It's hard to analyze yourself! LOL

Now I would like to honour two very talented friends who inspire me daily! Hopefully they will accept my nomination and answer these 4 questions about themsleves, so we can get some insight into their creative process. 

Meet Lisa Althouse from LA Stamper!

I call her my "Stampin Sista"! We met in Hawaii in 2009 as she and  her husband (also named Kevin) got on the train to go to breakfast and sat down right in front of us. We both noticed instantly that we were from Canada and well… the rest is history! We have attended many SU events together and when she comes to Calgary she has a honorary invite to any of my classes that I'm doing while she's here. 🙂 Love her to pieces!! Her Stamping style is very clean,crisp and fun! She has amazing ideas!!

Next up! Meet Kristine Burns from So you Think You can Stamp

It took me a while before I actually got to "meet" Kristine in person but I remember the first card I ever saw that she made! It was a swap card that used oval punches all stacked up like pancakes and the best part was the crystal effects "pancake syrup" she had drizzled over them! I remember thinking…GENIUS! How creative to add Chocolate chip reinker to the crystal effects to make syrup! Once, I finally got to meet Kristine, I could apprecaite how creative she really is! she does kids classes, Wow classes and her projects are always wonderful! 

So hop on over and check out these wonderful ladies work! You'll be inspired for sure!!

Have a fabulous day!!!